Much already speckles the blogosphere about White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s mic-drop news conference yesterday—here’s one of the best, from PR pro and friend Matt Friedman—with much more to come following presidential advisor Kellyanne Conway’s defense of “alternative facts.”

What I have to say has already been said, and by people far more articulate than I am.

But woe to us as a nation if it isn’t said again. And again. And again.

The Trump administration has made it clear: The news media are the enemy, and war has begun.

A sad truth of human nature is that people love conflict. They’re tempted to sit back with popcorn and beer, turn on the telly and revel as President Trump disdains reporters as purveyors of “fake” news and chuckle as Spicer’s news conference—which the dictionary defines as “a formal meeting for discussion,” a definition he apparently failed to read to the end—consists of him turning a fire hose of contempt upon reporters.

Then there’s Conway’s threat—and that’s the only way to characterize it—that if the media continues to challenge the press secretary’s pronouncements, “we’re going to have to rethink our relationship here.”

Still entertained? You shouldn’t be. You should be horrified.

Politics has nothing to do with it. Even the most fervent Trump supporter should be appalled by these antics. Spicer insists he will hold the news media accountable, and so he should. But accountability to truth and facts, to balanced and fair reporting, is not what he and Conway are championing. What they want is the news reported their way.

That, folks, is known as propaganda.

Not every news outlet is robust in its reporting. But the moment we dismiss them all—or allow our government to do so—is the moment we stop being a free nation.

As in my last blog, I quote Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black: “The Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to bare the secrets of government and inform the people.” (emphasis mine).

That protection comes straight from the Constitution. That’s the rulebook that President Trump—and by extension, his administration—swore to “preserve, protect and defend” last Friday. It’s a protection that every journalist, every PR professional, every politician, every American citizen must vigorously defend.

The old saying, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” was never more true and relevant than it is today, with the destination frighteningly near.

Discrediting the Fourth Estate is the first step toward totalitarianism. Not caring is the second.

We all understand that Mr. Spicer was sent out to do the bidding of others. And - by all accounts - he had earned the respect of journalists over decades. But this is a very bad and dangerous starts with the new administration. His "facts" were easily discounted and were so in minutes following the briefing. I would tend to feel sorry for him, but he's a big boy and he knew what he signed up for.

Reply

Rick Chambers

1/22/2017 01:46:49 pm

Thanks Michael. Agree, it's an ominous beginning. As for Spicer himself, if he knew what he was signing up for, integrity demands he shouldn't have done so. If he knew he was expected to give false information to the press, integrity demands he say "no." If instead he did both with full knowledge, then he deserves no respect from journalists nor the American people. I realize integrity can be tough to embrace when you have a family to support -- I don't know if that's true for Spicer, so let's assume it is -- but if we can't count on truth and integrity from the White House's face to the Fourth Estate, what does that say about the rest of this administration?